Jacobs, Ariel

Having played as a striker in the clubs “ Digem Sport ”, “ Galle ” and “ Dies ”, in 1984 he became a playing coach of “Digem Sport”. He also held various positions in the Belgian Football Association from 1982 to 1997. In particular, Jacobs worked with the youth team and coached the judges of the major league , as well as an assistant to Wilfried van Moore and Georges Lekens , coaches of the main national team of Belgium .

In 1998, he was appointed head coach of the Molenbek . During the year, he worked with the club and the national team, but then decided to focus exclusively on the club. In 2000, he left the team and waited a year to find another club. In October 2001, at the invitation of club president Filippo Gaon, he became a La Louviere coach. The club showed poor results, scoring one point in seven matches, this was the reason for the dismissal of Daniel Leclerc ^[2] , the predecessor of Jacobs. Ariel managed to avoid relegation and bring the club to 11th place. The next season, the club took 15th place in the league, but nonetheless was not demoted. But the team was successful in the Belgian Cup . On June 1, 2003, at the King Baudouin stadium , La Louvière Jacobs beat St. Truiden 3-1, it was the first and only major trophy in club history. This victory allowed the club to participate in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup , where the team faced off with Benfica . The home match ended in a draw 1: 1 ^[3] , but then a defeat followed with a minimum score for Estadio da Luz . The fact that the team fought the European grand, motivated the players for a successful championship. La Louviere finished in eighth overall. During his stay with the La Louvière, Jacobs formed a group of experienced players such as Didier Ernst, Benoit Tens, Yves Buillans, Daniel Camus, Domenico Olivieri, Thierry Sikuet and Davy Kurman. But at the same time, he brought up many young talents, such as Manasse Ishiaku, Dara Nibombe , Oguchi Oneva , Peter Odemvingie and Silvio Proto .

After three years at Eno, Jacobs joined Genk as CTO. He held this position for two seasons, and then became the coach of Lokeren . The transition to the new club was less successful, and in October 2006 he was fired, a few months after signing the contract. In February 2007, he led Muskron , he managed to keep the club in the first division, but his contract was not renewed.

In June, he was hired as an assistant coach for Anderlecht . On November 12, he was appointed head coach after the dismissal of Franky Verkauteren ^[4] . At the end of the season, he won the Belgian Cup and for two consecutive seasons he was second in the championship. On October 30, 2009, he extended his contract until the end of the 2011/12 season. After Anderlecht won the championship in 2010, he was recognized as the coach of the year in Belgium.

On May 13, 2012, after winning the new championship, he announced his retirement from Anderlecht. This decision was agreed with the leadership of the club, and, according to President Roger Vanden Stock, it was a “decision of reason, not heart” ^[5] . Behind this decision were media pressure and non-recognition by part of the fan community.

On June 22, 2012, he signed a two-year contract with Copenhagen , the vice champion of the Danish Super League ^[6] . He replaced Karsten Jensen, who became the sports director. He won the 2012/13 season championship and thus gained the right to enter the group stage of the 2013/14 Champions League .

On August 21, 2013, due to poor results at the beginning of the championship (two points in five games), he was fired by the Danish club and replaced by the Norwegian Stole Solbaken . On October 14, 2013, he was appointed coach of Valenciennes from League 1 ^[7] . However, he could not save the club from relegation to Ligue 2 , the team scored 29 points and showed disappointing results (in particular, a defeat with a score of 6: 2 from Nantes ). The club suffered from serious financial problems and was even threatened with loss of professional status. On July 10, 2014, Jacobs terminated the contract with Valenciennes by mutual agreement ^[8] .